Comments on: Trade Talk: Relievers, the Mets, Manny

By: melissa

melissa — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:39:19 +0000

Respect = $$$$ is the formula most likely at play here with Manny, like most players. Manny has seemed to be pouting about not having his option picked up and it’s obvious the Red Sox don’t want to pay him the $20 million. Manny hasn’t changed who he is or his personality, he is the same guy he’s always been but now the team has decided he isn’t worth the trouble.
I have seen this same kind of scenario play out in Chicago with guys like Frank Thomas and Sammy Sosa. The team enables and defends the prima donna/ diva player when he is producing at his optimum level and when they decide he isn’t worth the money he wants they turn on him and offer him up to the media as a prima donna/ diva. Once the front office decides they are going to cut their losses with the guy they start to plant things off the record and allow information to get out that they would have hidden or downplayed in the past. The front office creates the monster and then when he no longer suits their purposes they expose him to the media as a monster. It’s unfortunate that they can’t just let the guy go without trashing him and trying to get public opinion on their “side.” It’s also disappointing to see a so-called journalist like Gammons allow himself to be a pawn of the Red Sox front office.

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By: Lyndsay

Lyndsay — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:56:14 +0000

and it seemed like it happened all of a sudden too…things seemed all hunky dory and then BOOM, he punches Youk, he pushes down George Costanza, he gets fined, he starts complaining to the media. and here I thought he was a peace-loving stoner doing yoga with his “Uncle Rico” (it figures that he would have an Uncle Rico – now why can’t we ever meet this guy?). makes you wonder – what the hell happened? did he just resent being disciplined by the team? oh Manny – you are an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

I’ll reiterate what I said as a comment to the Teixeira post – Manny to the Rockies for Holliday and Fuentes. NOW. Pull the trigger, Theo.

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By: Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:36:56 +0000

He and Tavarez came up through the minors together, though—from what I understand, they were very, very close friends. Manny certainly gets along with Lugo and Ortiz, but he doesn’t rub their bald heads.

Nomar, also, had refused several lucrative deals offered him by the Red Sox because either he a) was determined to leave Boston or b) he was determined to get more money.

I too thought Manny had turned a corner last year—and even at the beginning of this year, I had no doubt that the Red Sox would pick up his option and he would retire here. Now that seems very unlikely. But I wonder what happened to set him off? Is it really just naked greed, as Peter Gammons would have it? His comments to the press haven’t seemed focused on the money, but focused on the FO’s alleged duplicity. But maybe, like Pedro, for him “respect” = “$$$$.”

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By: Lyndsay

Lyndsay — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:42:23 +0000

I don’t know that I buy the “BFF” thing though Sarah – he’s still pretty tight with Ortiz and Lugo.

Melissa’s right on Nomar and Manny being completely different situations – Nomar’s trade value was sinking and he was injured, and had been of little use to them offensively. that was also unusual behavior for Nomar (though his insecurities had been building for quite some time), whereas this is pretty status quo for Manny. I think it caught me by surprise though because I, like many people, thought Manny had turned a corner after ‘07 – we kept hearing how he was all into meditation and yoga now and was all happy and zen. and even talking about how badly he wanted his number retired with Boston. I read that as him being eager to do whatever it took to stay, whereas maybe I should have seen that as him trying to push the front office to take care of his option situation already.

whatever, I am so done with all these trade speculations. I can’t wait until the trade deadline fucking passes and everything settles down, and every other at-bat on NESN isn’t punctuated by the word Manny.

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By: Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:40:14 +0000

It would be impossible to replace Manny in the lineup, but I think the FO’s concern—if Gammons is right—is that Manny may just stop playing. That’s apparently why they had to call Scott Boras in and took Manny get MRIs on *both* knees; they weren’t going to have any of this 2006 crap where he just sits on the bench for a month. But if they can’t force him to play, it would clearly be better for the team to just trade him.

What I don’t understand is that this all seems to have metastasized from one interview Manny gave to the Herald a little less than two weeks ago, where he said he wanted his contract situation resolved. Was that a good idea? No. But anyone who expects more from Ramirez at this point must have spent the last 8 years under a rock somewhere. The Red Sox deigned to respond to his bait—they should have just ignored it—and now you’ve got a tit-for-tat situation where both sides are making it worse the more jabs they take at each other. Ugh.

I had a bad feeling when the Sox got rid of Tavarez. He was Manny’s BFF on the team, and probably worth keeping on the roster just to keep him happy.

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By: melissa

melissa — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:25:39 +0000

The difference between trading Nomar and Manny would be that Manny is more needed by this team than Nomar was to the team when he was traded. Nomar had shown that he was even more injury prone than the occasionally achy Manny. With Ortiz having been injured this year they really can’t afford to risk losing Manny as well. The other thing to consider is why would teams give up anything of value for him when they know Boston has soured on him? He has more value to help them win now than what they could get in return for him. I don’t think Epstein has any intention of trading him but I do believe that the Red Sox front office has wanted to prepare the fans for the fact that they will not pick up his option after the season.

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By: Coley Ward

Coley Ward — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:55:11 +0000

Paul, I don’t think the Sox will trade Manny, either. But, as Sarah points out, they did trade Nomar. So anything is possible.

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By: Lyndsay

Lyndsay — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:43:31 +0000

I say no go on any kind of trade deadline deals on the part of Theo Epstein, Manny or no Manny involved – he doesn’t have a good track record, and I think he’s learned to make the major moves in the offseason. he knows he can’t get anyone that even comes close to Manny in terms of value. I do wish that Craig Hansen had a higher trade value, because I’d like to see him get dealt – they’ve given him many chances to clean it up and it’s time for him to go.

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By: Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:28:56 +0000

Manny is a defensive upgrade over no one. He lets like 35% of balls hit in his area fall. That’s just atrocious.

I still don’t think that the Sox will deal Manny after all these years. That’s a huge shot to their chance at the championship this year.

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By: Coley Ward

Coley Ward — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:24:20 +0000

I think the D-Backs are the best fit for Manny. The rumor is that they’re thinking of trading for Mark Teixeira and moving Connor Jackson to the outfield. But I think it makes more sense to trade for Manny and keep Jackson at first, because, believe it or not, Manny might represent a defensive upgrade over Jackson. The D-backs have the prospects and the Red Sox are on record saying they will eat the rest of Ramirez’s 2008 salary. So why not?

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